1.1.2. Second Wave: The Nakba (1947-1949)
By the onset of 1947, and contrary to its
obligations as set in the Mandate,28 the
British government informed the newlyestablished United Nations (UN) of their
decision to withdraw from Palestine and
leave the future of Palestine to the UN.
Despite the inability of the UN Special
Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) to
reach a consensus on the future status
of Palestine and warnings from experts,29
on 29 November 1947, the UN General
1948 Displacement (©UNRWA)
Assembly (UNGA) passed Resolution
181 (II), adopting the majority opinion. It recommended the partition of Palestine into two
states, one Arab and one Jewish, each guaranteeing equal rights to all persons.30 The Jewish
state was allotted 56 percent of Mandatory Palestine, despite having a population of less than
one third of all those in Palestine at the time and owning no more than seven percent of the
land. On the other hand, the Arab state was allotted 43 percent of the land, and the Partition
Plan designated a special international regime for Jerusalem in the remaining 1 percent of the
land.31 Nearly half of the population of the proposed Jewish state consisted of Palestinians,
who owned nearly 90 percent of the land.32 The Partition Plan constituted a recommendation
for a proposed political solution; one that was illegal and unjust, was made without the approval
and consent of the Palestinian people, and never materialized.
The UN Partition Plan for Palestine was rejected by the Arab states and led to armed
conflict between the Palestinians and Zionist colonizers. Ahead of the withdrawal of
Great Britain from Palestine, Zionist militias developed and implemented a number
of military plans that utilized violent tactics and strategic massacres with the purpose
of ethnically cleansing Palestine of its indigenous Palestinian population.
28
See Victor Kattan, From Coexistence to Conquest, International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1891–1949
(Pluto Press 2009).
29
United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, Report to the General Assembly: Official Records of the Second
Session of the General Assembly Supplement No. 11 (3 September 1947) A/364 [hereinafter UNSCOP, Official
Records of the Second Session A/364] <https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2F364(SUPP)&
Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop&LangRequested=False> accessed 3 October 2022. Committee members
unanimously approved 11 general recommendations, including a UN-supervised transition period, protection of
religious and minority rights, and citizenship and property rights.
30
Resolution 181 (II), Future Government of Palestine, UNGA Res A/RES/181 (II) (29 November 1947) <https://
undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2FRES%2F181(II)&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop&LangRequ
ested=False> accessed 3 October 2022.
31
McCarthy (n 7), 74.
32
The proposed Jewish state had a population of 498,000 Jews and 497,000 Palestinians, including 90,000 Bedouins. The
proposed Arab state had a population of 725,000 Palestinian and 10,000 Jews. Jerusalem was to be under international
status, with a population of 105,000 Palestinians and 100,000 Jews. State land comprised less than 3% of the proposed
Jewish state; see UNSCOP, Official Records of the Second Session A/364 (n 29), 37.
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